Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Apr 6: State education minister S Suresh Kumar, said that the government will take a decision about holding Vidyagama programmes for sixth to ninth standard students and also about annual evaluation of students as offline classes have been suspended, in two days.

At a meeting the minister held with private school managements, teachers’ organizations and private educational institutions on Monday, the management said that classes have been completed in most of the schools and revision is under way. They felt that suspension of classes at this stage was not desirable. The minister had convened the said meeting in view of the reservations expressed by private school managements about promotion of students.

Speaking later, Kumar said that physical and Vidyagama classes for the sixth to ninth standards had been suspended in view of the COVID situation. Noting that widespread discussions are on about the examinations, he said that exams were not held for these classes last year too and the exams had been held only for tenth and 12th standards. He said that this years’ time table for tenth and 12th standards has been published.

Educationist, P V Nirnjanaradhya and several others argued that students cannot be retained in the same class. Even if evaluation is conducted, if the children get less marks in certain subjects, they cannot be failed. They need to be given special training and promoted to the next class, they pointed out.

The private educational institutions feel that if evaluation is not conducted, a child lagging behind in certain subjects cannot be identified. If it is identified, the student concerned can be worked on through specific strategies, they stated. Vidya Bharathi said that one month of study holiday should be announced and exams should be conducted in May first week. They suggested that for the first to fifth standard children, exams can be conducted at home. Sixth and seventh standard students may be allowed to write answers by referring to books. For the eighth and ninth standard students, multiple choice questions can be given, they argued.

Yogananda from the parents’ organization said that nothing in the name of exams should be conducted and screening of students can be undertaken. No rule should be violated and no one should be failed, he argued.